See You In The Stars
by Laura Schiller
Summary: Tag to 10.12, "The Doctor Falls". Bill is a practical woman; she wouldn't just fly away without leaving a message. Bill/Heather, Bill & Twelve.


See You In The Stars

By Laura Schiller

Based on: Doctor Who

Copyright: BBC

Bill Potts was so happy she wanted to melt – which, in her current state, might actually be an option.

Heather had come back to her. Saved her during her darkest hour, just as Bill had wanted to save her when they first met. They were going to see the universe, and be back in time for tea.

But before they could fly away together, there was one more thing Bill needed to do.

She glanced over her shoulder at the Doctor, who lay unconscious on the TARDIS floor. One of Heather's healing tears glowed golden on his forehead. The Doctor had given Bill pictures of her mother once, the same pictures that had saved not only her but all of humanity. He was one who had taught her how precious memories could be.

When he woke up, his last memory would be of Bill as a Cyberman, surrendering to her programming and shooting him in the chest. She couldn't possibly leave him with a memory like that.

She squeezed Heather's hand and stepped back from the doors, smiling through the mysterious fluid that still made her eyes dim.

"Wait," she said. "We can't just - "

"Of course." Heather's mismatched eyes met Bill's with a rueful flicker of understanding. "You're right. I must have been traveling too long, if I can forget something like that."

/

The Doctor, huddled beneath three quilts to sweat out his post-regeneration fever, squinted at the screen covering his bedroom wall. The last thing he wanted to do right now was watch a video, since his brand-new eyes ached, but the TARDIS had beeped at him incessantly until he gave in.

He hit the Play button on his nightstand – and sat bolt upright.

Two human girls, one white, one black, smiled at him on the screen, leaning close together so that both their faces fit into the camera. He could see the TARDIS console room in the background. The blonde girl looked vaguely familiar, but the other one – the one with the mass of inky curls, the denim jacket and the ear-to-ear grin –

" _Hey, Granddad, it's me! And this is Heather, remember? Can you believe she came back for me?"_

Bill Potts was alive.

Hot tears ran down the Doctor's brand-new face. The last time he had set eyes on her, she had been losing the battle against her cyber-programming. She had killed him. He held no grudge; it was himself he couldn't forgive. His past selves and a nasty case of regeneration sickness had distracted him for a while, but it was only a matter of time until the darkness caught up with him again.

Except that she was alive, and more importantly, she was herself again. It was almost too much happiness to take.

" _I can imagine how I must have appeared to you when we first met,"_ said the alien pilot whose consciousness had merged with that of Bill's classmate. _"But please don't be afraid. I would never hurt her."_

The Doctor noted that Heather (for lack of a better name) was speaking in full sentences now, not just repeating what others said to her. Her words and body language were close to human. Her face was serious and sweet as she glanced up at Bill.

" _I changed her,"_ Heather admitted. _"But only because I had to."_

" _She saved my life,"_ Bill added, wrapping her arm around the smaller girl's waist. _"I mean, c'mon,"_ with a flash of her old spirit, _"If being a Cyberman's the only other option, I'll take being a space puddle any day. Besides, it's not like Moira's gonna notice."_

She smoothed her denim jacket, which appeared perfectly dry, nothing like the half-drowned look Heather had worn when they first met. Evidently, whatever the two girls were now, they were learning to control their physical parameters. That was good, very good. They would have enough trouble adjusting to normal life – if they chose to - without getting hauled in by UNIT. No doubt Kate would be fascinated by a pair of sentient liquid life forms.

Liquid. Of course. Bill was the only Cyberman the Doctor had ever seen crying. _Where there's tears, there's hope,_ he'd told her. Heather must have altered her somehow when their minds had merged during their last good-bye, and kept track of her that way ever since.

The Doctor let out a low, rusty chuckle at his own expense. He really was getting arrogant in his old age. Just because he couldn't save someone, why would he assume it was impossible? He blessed Heather, every drop of her, for succeeding where he'd failed.

Bill leaned in closer to the camera, her dark eyes blazing with love and determination.

" _Listen, mate,_ " she said. _"Before we go, there's two things I still need to say. First, if you're looking for Nardole, he stayed with the solar farmers on the ship. The TARDIS archive says he got married and had a good long life."_ She smiled fleetingly, and so did the Doctor, imagining Nardole being courted by the farmers' fierce leader, Hazran.

" _The other thing is … "_ Bill's smile faded. _"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I shot you. I tried to hold it back, but I couldn't."_

Her lips trembled. She turned away from the screen to hide her face on Heather's shoulder, regardless of the height difference that made it awkward. Heather's hand came up to stroke Bill's back, and they whispered to each other, things the microphones (perhaps due to the TARDIS' discretion) did not catch.

"I'm sorry too," whispered the Doctor. "Sorry I made you wait too long."

" _It's okay,_ " said Bill, wiping her eyes, turning back to face the screen with one of her achingly brave smiles. _"I'm okay. At least I will be. Sometime."_ She was speaking to him as well as to Heather.

" _So don't feel bad, got it?"_ She pointed an imperious finger at the screen. " _Don't just lock yourself up in your office the way you do. Go out. Save planets. Talk to people. Like, really talk, don't just lecture."_

"I do _not_ lecture - "

" _Yeah, you do._ " She rolled her eyes at him, and he grinned. For a pre-recorded messaged, this was sounding awfully like a conversation. But then, she knew him well enough by now to predict what he would say.

" _The universe is full of wonders waiting to be found,"_ Heather chimed in, smiling softly. " _You taught us that, Doctor, in your classroom. Bill and I plan to explore as many of them as possible. I suggest you do the same."_

" _Thanks for everything, Granddad. You were the best teacher ever."_ Bill took Heather's hand and raised her other hand to wave at the camera. _"See you in the stars."_

She reached up to end the recording. The Doctor's bedroom fell silent, the TARDIS engines lowered to a sympathetic hum.

Sometime during the video, his fever had broken. Or perhaps it was the burden of grief being lifted that made him feel so suddenly light and refreshed.

He struggled free of his nest of blankets and staggered towards the bathroom. It was past time to finally find out what his new face looked like. He could feel unfamiliar muscles stretching into a smile. Oh, and he should probably pay a visit to the wardrobe room. And the shower.

He might see Bill again, or he might not. But either way, he knew now that she was safe and happy, and he would keep that knowledge as a treasure close to his hearts.

It was the best way he could think of to start a new life.


End file.
